Welcome to Gaia! ::

Melody had just gotten home about twenty minutes ago from a quick run to Costco for some milk, eggs, and one of their five-dollar rotisserie chickens to use for dinner and lunch tomorrow. She then retreated upstairs where she changed into her comfortable clothes; a tank top and thin cotton pajama pants with a paisley pattern before heading back down into the living room where Harvey had been laying when she got home.

Not too unusual but not uncommon either. Normally he was in his room but with the weather up in the 90’s it’s likely his room hadn’t cold off enough, maybe. Who knew?

Melody passed by without a word and walked into the kitchen where she got herself a tall glass of ice water and snagged two ice cream sandwiches from the freezer. Then, and only then did she resign herself to finally being done for the day and that it was time to take a seat and relax for a bit.

“Hey,” the glass of water was set down on the coffee table before she turned to her roommate. “Scoot scoot,” with a free hand she move to bump the side of his leg which elicited a startled yelp. “Holy crap, you just zapped the s**t out of me-” she shook her hand to get feeling back in her ring finger and pinky. “ Were you rubbing your feet across the carpet today?” Ugh, it felt like she just stuck her hand in a light socket.

“Good god, do I need to go outside and find a stick to poke you with?” She asked, semi-jokingly because the idea of it made her smile, but the tingling in her hand demanded future precautions. “I take it that’s why you’re just laying here and not watching TV. You know you could have at least asked the Alexa in the kitchen to play some music for you.” One of the few pieces of electronics he didn’t have to touch to turn on.

“Anyway, sit up please.” Regardless of his warning, Melody wanted to get off her feet. “I grabbed one for you too.” she held one of the ice cream sandwiches out to him. “You look hot and you can’t eat this laying down.” Honestly, he probably could, it’d just be ill advised to do so.

“Eh,” Melody shrugged nonchalantly. “A little bit of column A, a little bit of column B.” She answered coyly then took a heavy seat on the other end of the couch, least his little zappy zappy current was able to pass through the metal frame.

The way he moved to sit up was reminiscent of someone who just got back from a hard workout at the gym or had been playing mental gymnastics at work long enough that the thought of moving hurt. But with his computer on the ground next to the door and her knowing he wouldn't have gone around weight lifting bars with the risk of shocking himself and or other people, she suspected that his reaction was due to whatever it was that caused that wound on his back.

“So, are you going to tell me what happened to your back?” Most people who lay face down on a couch do so because of a sunburn from laying outside too long to the point their skin is too sensitive to lie on. But that mark did not look like it came from playing at the reservoir with his daughter, Rae.

“Yeah, it looks like you have a scar there or something.” She twisted in her seat to grab her phone off the end table beside her and unlocked the screen. “Here, turn that way so I can take a photo and show you.”

“I don’t know about scars, but most injuries start to itch as a sign that they’re starting to heal.” Something about the nerves reconnecting. She wasn’t entirely sure about the details and would default to Alexa if he wanted more information.

Melody took a quick photo then zoomed in on the image a bit before turning it around to show him. “Look but don’t touch,” she warned just in case he felt tempted to tap the screen.

Too surprised to laugh at his misfortune, Melody turned towards the kitchen with an almost horrified expression, “Good God! Was that you, or did one of the outlets just explode?” She grimaced at the thought of calling an electrician to come out and rewire the kitchen. It probably wouldn’t end there and would likely turn into a whole house project.

Not something her bank account could support at this time. Give it a few months of rental income then maybe she would look into some house upgrades.

“Ya know-” she muttered to herself having just thought of something that might help Harvey out. She pushed herself off the couch and walked into the kitchen area, careful to give him a wide berth, just in case, and knelt in front of the kitchen sink where she rummaged around the cabinet for a pair of rubber gloves.

“Ah ha!” She raised an arm and in her hand was the item she was searching for. “Here, put these on.” Too wary that she’d be shocked next, Melody tossed them on the counter next to Harvey. “These should protect you,” Mel paused then added a quiet “I think” with a tone of uncertainty that mirrored her hopeful half-smile grimace.

Honestly, he didn’t need to finish the joke.

Growing up with two older brothers meant she heard these kinds of comments more often than she cared to admit. What shocked the s**t out of her was that it was Harvey who damn near made the sexual innuendo, Mr. Serious over here.

“I kind of do mind,” she glanced over at the computer equipment stacked by the door. “You go touch the fridge handle first, see if those gloves work. If so then I’ll put on the other pair.” If not then she’d wrap the gel pack in a towel and use a pair of plastic tongs to put it on him from a distance. Who knew what kind of static arc he was generating? Was she even safe standing only a few feet away?